Plane with seven people on board missing in Philippines

Manila, April 2 (Xinhua) A small plane with five passengers and two crew members on board went missing shortly after take-off in northern Philippines Thursday, the country’s civil aviation authority reported. The European-made twin-engine Islander plane RP-C764 lost contact after it left the airport of Tuguegarao in northern Cagayan province at around 8.55 a.m. Thursday (0055 GMT), the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said.

Though the plane was bound towards Macanacon airport in neighbouring Isabela province, some 30 minutes away, no landing was reported in any major airports in the northern Luzon region, CAAP Director General Ruben Ciron said in a press release.

“Tuguegarao reported that the weather was fairly good when RP-C764 took off today (Thursday),” he said, adding that a team was formed to investigate the incident while several agencies of the military and government departments were searching for the missing plane.

A military UH-1H “Huey” helicopter will be dispatched to trace the route of the plane, Ciron said.